The Paint Is Dry on Banksy’s Nine Days of Animal-Themed London Street Art

On the 10th day, after creating the mountain goat, elephants, pelicans, a rhinoceros and a gorilla, among other animals, Banksy rested.

The elusive street artist’s menagerie that appeared around London over nine consecutive days apparently came to a conclusion after a final mural surprised staff who arrived early to feed the animals Tuesday at the London Zoo.

There was nothing new posted Wednesday on the artist’s website or his Instagram page, where his avid fans typically learn of his recent work. Those who live close enough often rush out to view it and snap photos — sometimes before it can be snapped up.

The zoo mural depicting a gorilla lifting up the entrance gate as birds took flight, a sea lion waddled away and three sets of eyes peered out from the darkness inside, was the last in the series, the BBC reported. A spokesperson for Banksy did not return multiple messages by The Associated Press.

Fans of the artist, whose real identity is not known, continued to debate the meanings of the paintings online. Some suggested the animals represented people and that the murals spoke to the Israel-Palestinian war. Others said they referred to the recent riots in Britain blamed on the far-right.

Banksy, who has been known to advocate for human and animal rights, could have been suggesting the creatures needed to be liberated from incarceration, some said. Others suggested more innocent whimsy: the final painting was the big reveal of where all those other animals came from.

Jasper Tordoff, the Banksy expert at MyArtBroker, said there had been a theory as the number of animals multiplied successively from one to two to three in the first works that the artist was creating a Noah’s Ark theme that mirrored his previous religious satire. But that theory seemed shot when the fourth work was a lone wolf that “came out of nowhere,” he said.

Banksy’s art is often pointedly political and Tordoff said these recent murals, created using stencils and spray paint, are clever but simple works that are meant to be fun. The artist’s company told the Observer that the series was meant to bring some joy during a period of dark news.

But Tordoff said Banksy may be making a commentary on human nature and the desire for possessions as at least one of the works has been stolen and others moved to preserve them.

“We’re in this pantomime of Banksy. We’re part of this installation in a way,” Tordoff said. “Banksy undoubtedly knew that all of this would be covered with photographs and CCTV about what the public reaction is, and that might be part of it, because that’s been just as entertaining in my view.”

Here’s a look at the nine works that were mostly painted as silhouettes:

— Aug. 5: A mountain goat perched on a narrow building buttress and looking down as crumbling rocks appear to fall in west London.

— Aug. 6: Two elephants painted on boarded-up windows on the side of a rowhouse in Chelsea face each other and reach out with their trunks. Followers on Instagram suggest they are the proverbial “elephants in the room” — that can’t be missed but no one wants to discuss them.

— Aug. 7: Three monkeys swing and hang on the side of a railway bridge in east London. Some fans say they represent the “see no, hear no, speak no evil” wise monkeys from ancient Japan.